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Give Local York: Guthrie Memorial Library

HANOVER, YORK COUNTY, Pa.– The Library is not necessarily a place most would consider bustling. That`s exactly what is happening though, as laughter is fi...

HANOVER, YORK COUNTY, Pa.-- The Library is not necessarily a place most would consider bustling.

That`s exactly what is happening though, as laughter is filed between story time at Guthrie Memorial Library in Hanover, York County.

The library, becoming a second home for one family in particular.

Luke Heisy loves trucks and just about any other vehicle, and it's possible he loves the Guthrie memorial library even more.

Luke's mom, Lisa says, "he gets to be independent and experience different toys and socialize with the other kids..."

Luke`s experiences include story time, sing-alongs, and special programs featuring guest speakers who focus on child development-- these programs are meant to be beneficial to all parents.

"They had a speech therapist come in that the parents could talk to while the kids were playing."

Those programs though don`t come cheap though. Officials with the library say the funding for the library just isn`t enough to continue providing the kind of learning environment Luke and other kids have come to know and love.

Lisa Kane is the Executive Director at Guthrie Memorial Library, "We have a thousand programs a year-- and 800 of them are children's... Children learn to read here long before they ever step foot in school."

She says they do as much as they can with what they have-- and that means relying on people`s love of books and devotion to the library, to stay relevant, "People donate to the library, because they love the library... Libraries aren`t what they used to be."

Now, you find children, like Luke, learning and laughing-- shattering the old library stereotypes.

His mom says, "He got used to sitting and listening to somebody reading a book."

And when the sitting gets to be a little long, and the laughter a little too noisy... well, they have a room for that.

"Which is an enclosed room-- which I now know is awesome to find in a library. When the kids get older and move around it is so nice to be able to just sit and relax and let them run free."

And free is exactly what you will find at the library as all of the services there are just that.

"You don`t have to spend money to come here you know!"

And Kane says with more than 200-thousand visits each year-- it`s proof that these library books are being used, and loved-- a lot, "It`s really touching if you think about it... It is really amazing what libraries are doing."

The Heisy family has found their home away from home-- "I feel like I`m able to not worry as much about him like right now, I`m not like `oh my gosh! Where did he go?` I`m not really concerned, it is such a safe place here... How can you not take advantage of something like this in your community?"

To sign up for programs at Guthrie Memorial, or any other York County library, click here: https://www.yorklibraries.org/hanover-guthrie/

For more information on Give Local York 2019: https://www.givelocalyork.org/

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